Priscilla Noland, of the Association of Departments of Family Medicine, confirmed the decision, but said she could not comment because the group’s membership had yet to be notified.

Carol Hunter, a spokeswoman for the Downtown Mobile Alliance, said that Allen Perkins, a physician and professor at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine, contacted her Wednesday night to tell her that ADFM’s board was considering withdrawing its reservation.

Perkins asked her to write a statement in support of the group’s visit to let its members know that Mobile is a welcoming, cosmopolitan destination, Hunter said.

She said that she wrote the letter, but the ADFM’s board voted to withdraw anyway.

Perkins, contacted via text message, said that he also couldn’t comment on the matter until ADFM made a formal announcement.

Hunter said that the group had planned to meet in Mobile next year at the Battle House Hotel Renaissance Mobile Hotel & Spa.

Attempts to contact hotel management for comment were unsuccessful Thursday.

David Randel, president of the Mobile Bay Convention and Visitors Bureau, said that it was the first time he’s heard of a convention pulling out of Alabama after having made a commitment.

“The question, really, is how many meeting planners didn’t call Alabama because of the immigration law,” he said. “That’s a question you can’t answer.”

The immigration law was undergoing review by a federal appeals court in Atlanta on Thursday, pitting Alabama against the U.S. Justice Department and a coalition of civil rights groups.

Passed in June with the support of Gov. Robert Bentley, the HB56 was hailed as the strongest such law in the country.

Several parts of the law have been temporarily blocked by federal courts, such as the portions making it illegal to rent or give a ride to an illegal immigrant.

But the majority of the 72-page law remains in place, including sections requiring police to check immigration status during traffic stops and barring illegal immigrants from conducting business with local governments.